Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, is the fourth most common cancer worldwide with approximately 1,000,000 cases diagnosed annually. It is a disease with a high mortality rate (about 800,000 deaths per year), making it the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide after lung cancer. The incidence of gastric cancer is significantly higher among men and in developing nations, including many Asian countries.
Gastric cancer often remains asymptomatic or exhibits only nonspecific symptoms in its early stages, diagnosis in many cases is therefore not made until the disease has reached an advanced stage. This leads to a generally poor prognosis: metastasis occurs in 80-90% of individuals diagnosed with gastric cancer, with a six-month survival rate of 65% in those diagnosed in early stages and less than 15% of those diagnosed in late stages.
Because of the prevalence of gastric cancer and its grave implications on patients' life expectancy, there exists an urgent need for new and more effective methods to diagnose, monitor, and treat gastric cancer. This invention fulfills this and other related needs.